Another nice tour - Library of Congress

We didn't know much about the Library of Congress, what it was like, what it contained, etc., but our friend in the Capitol Police could get us a private tour ... so we went.

Very simply -- WOW.  The place is unbelievable - big - and beautiful.

Here is what it looks like from the capitol

See the dome on the top.... the bigger diameter section was our first stop. Here again, not many people get to go there. A bit of radio communication got us cleared from the "higher up" police ... required since where we were going could offer a very good shooting position. We didn't want to arrive there unannounced!

Hanging out outside the dome.

 A dome feature

 The Capitol from the Library of Congress dome

 Supreme Court with a storm brewing

Greater Downtown DC

More Dome features

The public reading room - the central space in the Library of Congress - surrounded by stacks, and incredible architecture

We did feel special in so much as we bypassed all the signs and ultimately ended up in the place virtually by ourselves (and our tour guide) ... most of our time inside was after the place had closed.

 Do not enter - HA! -- we just walked down those stairs.

 Absolutely beautiful!

I was told I looked like this guy

Library of Congress contains the complete  Jefferson library. I read about this during a read of "Undaunted Courage" in which Merriweather Lewis (Lewis and Clark) studied with Jefferson for a few years before the journey.  Needless to say, I was impressed. But it is rather hard to show the grandness of the collection.